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Paul J. Cronin, a partner in the Intellectual Property Litigation practice group, was quoted by Law360 in “5 High Court Rulings Give Ammo To Patent Troll Opponents” on June 20. The article discusses five opinions issued by the United States Supreme Court in the last two months that provide potent new tools for defendants in suits brought by patent trolls. The U.S. Supreme Court did not mention non-practicing entities in its opinions but set standards that should be effective against the suits of questionable merit that such companies have been criticized for filing. Of the five rulings, three (Nautilus Inc. v Biosig Instruments, Inc., Limelight Networks Inc. v. Akamai Technologies, Inc., and Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International) created or enhanced defenses to infringement, and two (Octane Fitness LLC v. Icon Health & Fitness, Inc., and Highmark Inc. v. Allcare Health Management Systems Inc.) made it easier for judges to award fees as a sanction for bringing baseless suits.

“If you’re filing a patent case with patents of questionable validity, you’re now on notice,” said Paul. “Defendants now have a lot of tools to invalidate patents or prove that they don’t infringe, and there are real teeth if they prevail and try to get fees.” Paul notes that the high court has certainly put its stamp on the hot-button issue on non-practicing entities suits, even if its rulings won’t be the last word. “NPEs or trolls will not go away,” Paul said. “Nothing here is the death knell for them, but it makes it much more difficult to be an NPE.”